The Best Retro Gaming Consoles

If you want to play classic video games, but don't want to deal with low resolution, awkward analog video connections, and wiggling cartridges to get the pins to connect just right, check out these modern systems.

Will Greenwald

May 27, 2020, 1:35 a.m.

Modern video games are amazing. With lifelike graphics, realistic physics, extensive artificial intelligence, robust multiplayer, today's video games are so much more sophisticated than older games.

That doesn't change the fact that some of the greatest games ever made came out in the '90s, and that many of those titles still hold up. It also doesn't change the generational nostalgia of Gen Xers and early Millennials for the days of sprites and CDs. That's why there are so many classic game consoles out there.

Whether you swore by the NES, the Sega Genesis, or the PlayStation, there's a new, modern console for you you to experience the games of your youth.

Here are the best classic game compilation systems you can get now, along with a few other options for retro gaming.

NES Classic Edition

This is the one that really got the mini retro console trend rolling. There were other retro complication consoles in the past, like the Atari Flashback series, but the NES Classic is the first to come directly from the company that made the original NES (Nintendo, of course), with an HDMI output and excellent emulation and 720p upconversion.

Super NES Classic Edition

After the 8-bit mini console became a smash hit, Nintendo released its 16-bit successor in tiny compilation form. The Super NES Classic has fewer games than the NES Classic, but the jump in console generations from the NES to the SNES and the technological advancements that came with it enabled the creation of some of the best video games of all time.

Best Games: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Mario World, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Super Metroid

Sega Genesis Mini

After stumbling with a mediocre AtGames-manufactured Sega Genesis compilation system, Sega decided to take matters into its own hands and make its first console since the Dreamcast. The Sega Genesis Mini does for the Genesis what the SNES Classic does for the SNES. It has a load of games (with a few puzzling omissions) and very good emulation, and you can even trick it out with the Genesis Tower Mini accessory pack, adding (non-functional) Sega CD and 32X systems, and Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic the Hedgehog cartridges.

TurboGrafx-16 Mini

American millennials generally grew up as Nintendo kids, Sega kids, or Sony kids. There weren't many TurboGrafx-16 kids, even though it was a totally valid 8/16-bit (it's technically complicated) console with a strong library of games. The TurboGrafx-16 Mini could be the best retro game console you've never heard of. This little system packs 50 titles from both the TurboGrafx-16 and Japan's PC Engine consoles, including the elusive and excellent Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, as well as loads of shoot 'em ups. Just be prepared for some its adventure and RPG games to be unplayable unless you know Japanese.

Neo Geo Mini

The Neo Geo didn't see the same kind of runaway commercial success as Nintendo's or Sega's consoles, but it was an arcade mainstay and its home console version could produce an arcade-perfect experience (if you were able to afford the VHS-sized cartridges). The Neo Geo Mini is for old-school arcade fans more than console fans, but it's still full of classic video game nostalgia. Some of SNK's best can be found on this system, with loads of excellent fighting games.

Sony PlayStation Classic

A mini PlayStation seems like a no-brainer, but there's a reason the PlayStation Classic comes last on the list of classic compilation consoles. It looks like a tiny PlayStation, but its library leaves out games like Crash Bandicoot and Tomb Raider, and its underpowered emulation and strange use of 50Hz PAL versions of many games does the already rough-looking early 3D of the system no favors.

Evercade

The Evercade is a portable retro game system with an interesting twist. It uses cartridges, like the Game Boy Advance, only each cartridge is a compilation of classic games. With one exception, every $20 Evercade cartridge contains six to 20 games from Atari, Data East, Namco, Technos, and others, from the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, NES, Super NES, Sega Genesis, and other 8-bit and 16-bit systems. Its built-in screen is colorful and fairly sharp, and its mini HDMI port lets you output the video to your TV if you want to play at home.

Analogue Super Nt

If you still have your SNES cartridges, but don't know how (or don't want) to hook up your system's RF switch to your TV, the Analogue Super Nt is here for you. It's basically a Super Nintendo, capable of playing any SNES or Super Famicom cartridge and upconverting it to 1080p over HDMI with stellar image processing.

This isn't an emulation system; it use cartridges as if it was original hardware, just pumping up the resolution to keep things nice and crisp. It also includes the original Director's Cut of Super Turrican as a bonus.

Analogue Mega Sg

If you were a Sega fan instead of Nintendo, the Analogue Mega Sg is your best bet. It's just like the Super Nt, only it's for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive cartridges. It features the same fantastic upconversion, the same faithful cartridge reading, and it comes with the unreleased, DICE-developed game Hardcore.

Arcade1Up Cabinets

Arcade1Up's arcade cabinets are faithful, scaled-down reproductions of classic machines with full-size arcade controls, excellent arcade emulation, and multiple games in each cabinet. If you spent your formative years dropping quarters in an arcade, you probably wanted your own arcade cabinet, and this is the most convenient way to get one.

Nintendo Switch (with Nintendo Switch Online)

The Nintendo Switch is an amazing console, but we weren't sold on the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service when it first came out with dubious online features and a handful of NES games. After a year of updates, the $20 annual subscription is well worth it, with dozens of NES and SNES games available on the system. If you don't mind buying à la carte, there are also loads of Neo Geo and Nintendo arcade games available to download.

Build Your Own Raspberry Pi System

Why buy a retro game system when you can build your own? RetroPi is an operating system package for the Raspberry Pi that easily turns the inexpensive microcomputer into a retro game system that can play nearly any title made before 2000. It requires some work to get going, but you have the pride of knowing you put it together yourself. If you really want to emulate the NES, SNES, Super Famicom, or Sega Genesis Classic while you do it, you can even use custom retro game system shells from Retroflag.

Polymega

The Polymega is a retro game system that can handle nearly any classic game you throw at it, thanks to emulation and robust cartridge and card support, like the Retro Freak. Unlike the Retro Freak, the Polymega includes an optical drive so you can play PlayStation, Sega CD, Sega Saturn, TurboGrafx CD, and Neo Geo CD games on the base unit.

For cartridges and cards, you can attach different $60 modules that add media slots, like Power (NES), Super (SNES and Super Famicom), Mega (Sega Genesis/Mega Drive and 32X), and Turbo (TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine). Each module comes with its own wired controller modeled after its associated systems, while the base unit comes with a wireless dual analog controller. We're most excited about Sega Saturn compatibility, so we can play Panzer Dragoon 2.

That say, the Polymega isn't slated to come out until later this year, and we can't attest to its power, compatibility, or effectiveness. I got a few good looks at the system at E3, but for something this complex, we're withholding judgement until we can get it into PC Labs. Still, its promise is remarkable.

Cyber Gadget Retro Freak

If you're an obsessive hardware purist with a catridge collection, you go with Analogue. If you're an obsessive retro game fan who doesn't mind emulation and legally gray areas, and you have an incomplete cartridge collection, you go with the Cyber Gadget Retro Freak.

This retro system can play loads of different games from loads of different systems, with cartridge and card slots for the Famicom (not NES, but an NES-to-Famicom adapter is available), Super NES/Super Famicom, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Game Boy/Game Boy Color/Game Boy Advance, and PC Engine/Turbografx-16. It can rip ROM images from any game you own and store it on a microSD card, and the emulation part of the system can pull out of the larger cartridge shell, letting you carry your entire game collection anywhere you want in a package the size of an SNES cartridge.

You can also just load it up with ROMs of games, though how you get those ROMs will almost certainly be legally dubious. There's also the small issue that the emulation code base of the system is based on LibRetro's open source software, which cannot legally be sold. To Cyber Gadget's credit, it has ceased directly selling the system, but you can still find it importable through Amazon and sites like Play-Asia, if you don't mind playing games on ethically rocky ground.

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About the Author

Will Greenwald has been covering consumer technology for a decade, and has served on the editorial staffs of CNET.com, Sound & Vision, and Maximum PC. His work and analysis has been seen in GamePro, Tested.com, Geek.com, and several other publications. He currently covers consumer electronics in the PC Labs as the in-house home entertainment expert, reviewing TVs, media hubs, speakers, headphones, and gaming accessories. Will is also an ISF Level II-certified TV calibrator, which ensures the thoroughness and accuracy of all PCMag TV reviews. See Full Bio